Citizens Uprising, 2014
Artwork “Getting Up” Acquired for Cleveland Clinic Art Collection
Me with “Getting Up”, Archival Digital Print on Cotton Rag, Edition 2 of 3, 36 x 50.5 inches
In this work influenced by Islamic Art and Sufism, my circles come alive with abstracted interlocking mandala like radial spinning constructions distilled from a personal methodology of kinetic dynamism. Making this work allowed me to experience freedom and move kinetically through my art, much like the Sufi Whirling Dervishes whose spinning dances bring them closer to spiritual bliss.
I was asked to grant permission to have the artwork reproduced for a series of posters with the goal of extending selected works from the Cleveland Clinic Art Collection to satellite facilities. I’m humbled by this because they select only a small portion of the collection for this program, being in the company of such artists as Catherine Opie and Sarah Morris.
Reformabit 4
Architects and engineers explain their designs in the form of construction drawings. My Reformabit works are abstractions on this idea; what I call “engineered abstraction”. Powered by mysterious forces, engineering collides with the creative in the form of fantasy machines of my imagination.
click on image to enlarge
Reformabit 4, 2013
Epson Ultrachrome GS Print on Canvas
Edition of 3, 40 x 49 inches
Art Installation at the 2013 Cleveland Ingenuityfest – Sept. 20 – 22, 2013
My artwork ‘Three Comma One’ on cover of Cleveland Plain Dealer Newspaper Friday Section, September 20, 2013
My architectural background comes into the work “Seven Model Citizens”. Within a vocabulary of symbols suggestive of computer code, seven anthropomorphic architectonic constructions are lined up, at once symbolizing individuality and rigid conformity. The blocky formed monoliths conform to a grid where they must reside, yet, each is still unique. The antenna appendage on their heads represents the untethered power we now possess to be connected with smart phones and Wi-Fi.
Model Citizen, 2013
Assembled 3d Prints
In the artwork, the model citizens are represented as flattened and two dimensional but each lives in another 3D world. One of them rendered with 3d printing technology was on display.
The works “Three Comma One” & “Restricted Propulsion” (right to left) represent my left brain and right brain, on a collision course with each other. Grids and symbols, numbers and letters alluding to architectural and engineering drawings (from my left brain) coexist with colorful geometric abstraction (from my right brain).
The word Reformabit is latin to transform or reshape. The works “Reformabit 1” and “Reformabit 2” are studies of relationships of geometric parts all working in harmony to make a dynamic system. They suggest a vocabulary of abstracted engineering drawings. These constructions are also about energy and movement. Again, these works represent a meeting of the two sides of my brain, a balancing act of engineering and creativity.